The End Made a Beginning
by CapriTheBunny
Summary: This is the story of Elaine Moore. It will cover most of the main story line and then some of Fallout 4; some things will be different due to how I felt they should have gone or things I wanted to add. There will be a slow burn romance, but that will be revealed later. There will be sensitive topics in this writing; I can message a list. Leave a critique if you want!


I didn't wake up on October 23rd thinking my entire life would change. I wasn't thinking that day would be the last I spent happily with my husband and son. I hadn't thought my world would come to an abrupt, screeching halt, and instead crumble into something crazed, something writers in my time could never have hoped to describe.

October 23, 2077

Running. I'm glad I stayed in shape, as running to the Vault would have been even less pleasant than it was already. I could barely hear Nate shushing Shaun over my own heartbeat, and the anxious churning of my stomach did little to help me calm down. I saw the gates to the Vault, guarded by military personnel. In the panic and chaos of everything, the soldiers in power armor, for some reason, stood out. They made this more serious, made this seem even less likely to be a hoax or a drill; it didn't help that they nearly mowed down the Vault-Tec representative I'd spoken with just yesterday. The knots in my stomach intensified as I stopped in front of a man with a clipboard just inside the gates.

"We need to get in! My name is Elaine Moore, and I'm on the list!" I watched, trying to get control of my panic, as he flipped through the pages on his clipboard.

"Moore… Moore… Moore, Elaine, husband Moore, Nate and infant son Moore, Shaun." The man stepped out of my way, and gestured us forward. As I rushed forward, I hear my neighbors who didn't meet clearance yelling in dismay. A man, armored in what seemed to be Vault-Tec equipment, waved and shouted for me to follow him, though it was hard to understand him over the roar of machinery. As we rounded several vans parked in the clearing, I saw a platform in the ground, with some of my neighbors standing upon it. The man incoherently yelled and waved me towards the platform. The only word I understood was 'center'. I hurriedly got onto the platform, turning to help Nate.

"Are you and Shaun okay?" Even though my voice was raised, I worried he wouldn't hear me. I don't know if he said the words, or if he only mouthed them to me, but I understood his message.

"We're fine. I love you." But, as he said it, I heard a deafening, heart-wrenching explosion. In the distance, I saw a mushroom cloud of dust, dirt, and who knows what else rise into the air, and beneath it, a wave of the same, devouring the land between the explosion and us. I felt the platform under us jolt and begin to lower, but I knew it would be too late. There's no way we would make it down in time.

 _Closer._ I felt so sick to my stomach, I felt the heat beginning to burn my face. The platform stopped, then lurched down.

 _Closer._ I felt my ears pop painfully from the air pressure, started to cough from the dust that filled my face. The heat made me feel dizzy. Suddenly, the platform lurched again, and another platform came out and shielded us from the outside chaos.

I don't think much time passed before the dead silence and darkness ended. The florescent lights burned my eyes at first, and my ears popped once more. I heard several people talking at once, but when my eyes grew accustomed to the light I saw another two Vault-Tec personnel standing at the top of a set of stairs that seemed to lead deeper into the vault.

"Relax, relax folks! Welcome to Vault 111, your new home, underground! Now, if you would please step this way and follow the instructions of staff we'll get you all set up." They motioned to the area behind them, and I felt one of Nate's hands on my back. I didn't realize it, but I hadn't moved. He gently pushed me, and I fell in behind old man Johnson and the Idecki sisters. As I reached the top of the stairs and entered the entry way, I saw a few doctors and other staff members in jumpsuits of cobalt blue with gold connecting the neck and waist down the front along with the vault number on the back. I approached a darkly tanned woman who was handing out these suits to the new comers.

"Here you go, dear. Follow Dr. Benne to the depressurizing room, and then you can get started on your life here in Vault 111." I nodded, took a suit, and turned towards the pointed-out doctor. He was a tall, mid-forties man with a thinner frame and white hair. His smile seemed forced, and he gave off a rather… odd vibe. As Nate and I followed him, I could hear Nate softly talking to Shaun as the doctor explained to us where we were exactly.

"Hello, hello. Welcome to Vault 111. Vault 111 is one of the most advanced facilities- not that the others aren't great, mind you. I'm escorting you to our depressurizing and sanitizing pods, to keep conditions in the Vault as healthy as they can be." As we followed him, I heard snippets of other conversations: how they were worried if their other family members made it, if their kids were okay, how long would we be down here. I felt my stomach knot once more; I knew that, most likely, none of my family had made it, except for my husband and son. Before I could dwell on this, Dr. Benne led us to a room with bulky pods that had a connected control stand.

"Alright, put your suits on and step inside. This will only take a moment." I felt heat flare from my face to all down my neck. I caught a glimpse of Nate looking nonplussed. I quickly discarded most of my clothes and jerked the suit on as fast as possible. I turned to Nate and held Shaun as he did the same. He took Shaun once more, and gave me a soft kiss on the top of my head before we stepped into our pods. I watched as the lid closed, and listened as a feminine robotic voice announced its processing. I waved to Nate from my pod, and watched as he lifted Shaun's hand to wave back.

I started to feel odd. Cold. The temperature seemed to drop, and it didn't seem right. I started to panic, but then… I don't know what happened.

2227

I took a deep breath as the cold withdrew. Something wasn't right. I saw the vault outside my pod was dark, and I felt so weak. Then I heard them. A rough, almost raspy voice. I saw who it belonged to: a mostly bald man with a vicious scar down the left side of his face. He had some type of armor on, and was accompanied by what I assumed to be a female in a blue hazmat suit. They were opening Nate's pod. I heard him coughing, and saw him clutch Shaun to his chest.

"I-Is it over? Are we safe?"

"Almost. Just hold on." I heard the woman coo at Shaun and reach to take him, but Nate jerk him away.

"It's fine, I've got him!"

"Let the boy go. Now." I saw the grizzled man threateningly aim his revolver at Nate's chest. I weakly pounded on the glass to my pod as a sense of panic came over me.

"No! You're not gonna take Shaun!"

 **POW.**

It felt like ice was spreading through me. I couldn't think or say anything as I watched my husband's lifeless body fall back into the seat of his pod. The man turned to me, his face close to my window as a different kind of cold began to seep back into my skin.

"At least we still have the backup."


End file.
